Late last July, MIDNITE HOUR noted a hand-painted banner stretched across a building under construction near the top of Sukhumvit Soi 1. The sign was advertising (in English) "Bar-Beer for Rent", and they were calling themselves "Sukhumvit Soi 1 Entertainment & Plaza" (subsequently shortened considerably to it's present Sukhumvit 1 Plaza). And while we touted it in our August 2004 edition, we didn't have much faith in it actually developing into a 'draw' for the night prowler crowd - it not having that magical 'location-location-location'. Our lack of confidence was proven unwarranted - and gladly.

Sukhumvit 1 Plaza first opened it's doors officially on 01 November 2004, however by that time, five bars had opened early - the leader of the pack was the Sports Bar 2, which opened on 14 October 04 - and lands the kudos as the seminal bar. (It is still there today, but has changed it's name to Beaver's.)
Other bars that opened in quick succession in the week that followed, were there at the 01 November kick-off celebrations - they were:
Chemo 01Go Diva (Godiva)The One BarOasis

However, five bars does not a Night Entertainment Area make. They were still just 5 bars, not really enough to form a nucleus of Nightspot Venues capable of attracting sufficient custom - not large enough to be considered a 'destination' by Bangkok's night-revellers. Or to say the same thing another way, Sukhumvit 1 Square was still quite far away from attaining critical mass.
But over the last five months, occupancy has gradually and steadily increased, some bars changing hands, some new bars. With the opening of Mini Bar, the Night Entertainment facility saw it's first upstairs bar come to life. This month, there are no less than four Night Venues in operation on the second and fourth floors. (The third floor, rumored to become the next late-nite Thermae-style coffee shop will not come to pass, however, as it is being put to other uses.)
This surge in new openings on the upper floors pushes Sukhumvit 1 Plaza comfortably into that (essential for survival) state of critical mass. The lineup of players on this date (for you history buffs taking notes) is as follows.

The volume of business, however, still leaves a lot to be desired, as there are a lot of folk that have not yet heard of Sukhumvit 1 Plaza, or don't know where it is. To this end, we have provided the below locator map.

It was anticipated that there would be an upsurge of business once Nana Square commercial complex opened at the top of Soi Nana (Soi 3) however that has not eventuated. -Other than the new Starbucks, the new Nana Square doesn't seem to be drawing much of a crowd either - but it's still a little early to tell how the area will develop.
Sukhumvit 1 Plaza has a variety of lounges, Pool Bars, restaurants,bar beers, and a karaoke to keep resident expats and tourists entertained, and as construction on the upper floors continues, we can expect to see additional Nightspots opening in the near future. And while they are still struggling to "make a go of it", business is starting to pick up - last weekend, while not swamped, they looked quite busy. Sukhumvit 1 Plaza is Bangkok's second made-to-purpose Night Entertainment Area (following only Queen's Park Plaza on Soi 22) - and a break from normal 'procedure' in that it is our Capital's first Bar Beer Nightspot Area not to be "opportunistic" - i.e., built for short-term gain on land earmarked for further development in the near future. MIDNITE HOUR wishes both the Nightspot management team and the individual Night Entertainment Venue owners at Sukhumvit 1 Plaza a prosperous future.

Late in November 2003 MIDNITE HOUR surveyed Sois 5, 7, and 7/1 with an eye kept open to spot up-and-coming Night Entertainment Areas (See our map in the Dec 2003 edition in our Archives). At that time, we wrote off Soi 7/1 (Soi Eden) as having too little real estate available for development into Night Entertainment Venues. At that time, there were exactly 4 venues that could qualify as Nightspots, with a 5th under construction. This was one of our many less-than-visionary miscalculations.

The new face of Soi Eden (Soi 7/1) - a sea of neon, and a flood of new Nightspots. Bangkok's next stand-alone Night Entertainment Area?

In early January of this year, we were hit in the eye with a blast of neon emanating from Soi Eden, and thought it might be more than ripe for a revisit. The blast of neon came from the Absolute 7, and there was other growth on the Soi, but not yet enough to give it serious consideration as a stand-alone Nightspot Area.

But in late January this year, we heard rumors to the effect that several of the bars from the closed, or closing Bar Beer Areas were interested in moving into Soi Eden. We duly made it our Rumor Of The Month for February of this year, having serious doubts that it could actually come to pass.

Having spoken to some of the Asoke Corner "refugees" earlier in March of this year, we were advised of ongoing arrangements for several bars to be moving into Soi Eden after all. On our end-of-the-month survey yesterday, we noted that there were several new Night Entertainment Venues already up and running. A brief listing of these new bars is as follows: -

5. (A double-shophouse at the end under construction) -(Name not yet available.)

With the above mentioned new arrivals and the other ongoing works to modify places in the Soi to accommodate outdoor customers, it is entirely conceivable that Soi Eden could attain critical mass as soon as the end of this month.

MIDNITE HOUR sees as an inevitability Soi Eden's becoming a Night Entertainment Area in it's own right (barring another blitz on the Nightscene by our Benevolent Autocrat and his minions) - it is just a matter of 'when'.

"Beginning 17 April, Patpong 1 will undergo massive renovations. In an attempt to capitalize on their "Zone" status, they will be ridding the street of most or all street vendors, and begin the first sprucing up since it came into existence."

MIDNITE HOUR includes as part of our Rumor Of The
Month an ongoing evaluation as to the accuracy of said rumors since the inception of
the award.

Due to the March 2005 Rumor having come to pass, as of 01 APRIL 2005, the Rumor Accuracy Quotient is now at
-

4.5% Note: This variance from "0%" is due to ONE and only ONE rumor to ever have come true.

The Madrid, the Pong's longest surviving Night Entertainment Venue (1969) has an eager and deep-pocketed suitor knocking on it's door. The object, on acquiring the Madrid (and the upstairs Madrid Apartments), would be another disco. But all you old rummies that hang out there mornings and afternoons playing "Old Asia Hand" need not worry - at least for the near term - Khun J. intends to "keep it in the family", and has told the would-be buyers to take a hike. Status quo ante.
 PATPONG I 

Appropos last month's comments re the Twilo Live's influence in keeping street vendors away from both the side and the front of their establishment, it seems that they conveniently park vehicles in Soi Superstar (at the side) day and night, as a sort-of 'proof-of-claim'. Nevertheless, the rest of Patpong 1 may be following suit later this month - see our Rumor Of The Month this month, just above.
 PATPONG I 

Gone, but not gone, King's Lounge reopened mid-March - with an all new format (-it has dropped the 'A-Go-Go' from the name). Gone are the cabaret shows and the A-Go-Go. Gone is the sub-zero air conditioning, and gone is the need to send your bill downstairs to King's Corner for payment. All this has been replaced with live music and song, and hostesses in long evening gowns. Soda is one-hundred baht all night long. While indeed pleasant enough, MIDNITE HOUR remains unconvinced that they have a winning combination - we wouldn't be really taking long odds if we said we expect it will not last for 6 months We hope we are wrong, and welcome them back home. (Second floor, Soi Bookstore, above King's Corner.)
 PATPONG II 

Both the Bua Luang Target, and the upstairs IT Room closed down for renovations this last month (March). The Bua Luang Target is back, full-throttle, but the renovations on the IT Room won't be finished until the 4th of April, at the earliest. Pool Bar remains the modus operandi for both Nightspots.
 PATPONG II 

Big Dogs, the open-sided day & night bar beer at the entrance to the Plaza didn't even miss a beat as it changed hands. We at MIDNITE HOUR, however did go into temporary cardiac arrest when we heard that $750,000 changed hands in the deal. No, there are no typos, and yes, that's US dollars...
 NANA PLAZA 

The Morning 2 Night, as earlier rumored, will have it's current lease expire in the very near future. One embellishment to the rumor has it that they are having their rent raised from 100,000 baht/mo to 300,000 baht/mo, so they are not going to renew, and will move over to their new Morning Night 2 in Sukhumvit 1 Plaza, lock, stock, and barrel. But our "person-in-the-know" at the Plaza says that this is probably not the case - in that they gross over a million baht a month at Nana, the rumored increase in rent only represents a bump in the road. The more likely scenario, says he, is that the owner wants it back so he can make the cool million + every month. Hey, if you were the owner, what would you do.....?
 NANA PLAZA 

Opening only last October, Pussy Cat's Bar has been shut down for sign and licence 'inconsistencies'. While they were shut down, we noted that they had their rap samak duan signs taped to the front - usually indicating an impending reopening. And that is exactly what happened - just as we were getting ready to write them off entirely, they opened on 31 March, but with a different name. They are now called, in both Thai and English the Farang Connection. If that name sounds familiar, it should -the original Farang Connection closed in April of 2001, selling out to the Angel Witch. But apparently the licenses in that name were 'kept alive', and are now finally being reused. The owner apologized for no A-Go-Go, and said he would have his chrome poles back next week, as well as the girls' bikinis (they were dancing in skirts and shirts last night). Another way of saying his dancing license would be reinstated next week. Shake it, don't break it, guys, you know how Bangkok's Men In Too-Tight Uniforms can get, even for the smallest infraction...

The woodstock Pool Bar & restaurant did in fact consummate it's sale to Rainbow Group (MIDNITE HOUR's first Rumor Of The Month to come true). They also very quietly bought the next door bar (Rosemary Bar), so they could combine the premises into a very large bar - a tried-and-true procedure in these parts. The deeper story was that they would be able to use the small bar's A-Go-Go license for the combined premises. This of course, begs the question, what happened to woodstock's original A-Go-Go license? It wasn't that many years ago that the woodstock was one of the big draws at the Plaza: -the best sound system, -the best Rock'n'Roll, the best A-Go-Go dancers. Whatever happened to all that, we wonder?

The woodstock mural, a 30 meter long ode to Rock'n'Roll has, with the exception of one small segment, met with the wrecker's sledge hammer.

 NANA PLAZA  April 2005

We've also heard two stories, the first that all the above was brought about by 23 million baht changing hands, the second story was that it took 28 million. In either case, it is quite a sobering reality-check to see what the bigger bars are selling for these days. Renovations already proceeding at a furious pace, the wall between the two bars has been torn down and both bars stripped, as construction crews start from scratch on what is tentatively named Rainbow 4. They are aiming for a 1 May opening....well, maybe.

The woodstock as we knew it is no more. However it's previous owner has retained the name to use for a new venue somewhere in the Sukhumvit area.

 NANA PLAZA  April 2005

 NANA PLAZA 

The above mentioned single-shophouse Rosemary Bar deserves special mention. Back in 1982, before Nana Plaza was Nana Entertainment Plaza, and there was only a small bar beer in the driveway (Luck Lukes), three bars from Sukhumvit Soi 16 closed down due to road construction and moved in. These three were the Three Roses Bar, the Rainbow Bar, and the Rosemary Bar (-which combined the Rosemary 1 & 2 bars). These three seminal bars set the tone for what was to follow in the coming decades. Yet it was only in January 2002, after a run of 20 years (and a couple, three owners) when the Three Roses closed it's doors for the last time -- selling out to Spanky's, which opened in March of that year. Now that Rosemary Bar has been bought by the Rainbow Group, that leaves only the Rainbow Bar as the remaining seminal bar.

The Rosemary Bar, shown here as "Rose Mary", was one of three original bars to start Nana Plaza some 23 years ago. Before moving to Nana Plaza, it operated as Rosemary 1 and Rosemary 2 bars at the top of Soi 16 Sukhumvit, both of which were popular A-Go-Go bars in the 1970's.

 NANA PLAZA  April 2005

In contrast, the Rainbow Bar has grown since 1982 from a single shophouse to a double shophouse A-Go-Go, and in August 1997 took over the XXX Tacy (also known as the XTC), renaming itself the Rainbow II. In November 2001 it took over part of the Nana Guest House short-time hotel and opened yet another venue, the Rainbow III. Alas, the Rosemary Bar's fate wasn't so auspicious -after a run of 23 years, it finally stuck that last chit in that last cup. We at MIDNITE HOUR would like to wish them a final 'adios' -- and hope they find things more to their liking a little further on down the road a piece.
 NANA PLAZA 

While we are on the subject of Lucky Luke's, it also has a new owner (yes, the individual it was rumored to be), and if the other night was any indication, business is looking good, indeed. It's new owner confirms that not only do they not have any affiliation with the New Lucky Luke's on Tobacco Road (Soi Zero), he didn't even know of it's existence.... Hopefully, that will settle the outstanding discussion on this one.
 NANA PLAZA 

Now back in action, last month the Hog's Breath Saloon was arbitrarily singled out by Lumpini'sMen In Tan for a 30-day 'holiday' (an alleged previous month's display of various shades of pink on the dance floor).The Powers-That-Be just don't seem to understand that this egregious dispensation of street-justice is an affront to Rule Of Law, and an order of magnitude greater than any of the perceived 'sins' they are 'cracking down' on.These arbitrary closures do not require that the Men In Too-Tight Uniforms provide any evidence, nor are the alleged violators offered the opportunity of appeal, and until this changes, these Rambo cops will continue to take the law into their own hands...
 NANA PLAZA 

The single-shophouse New Crazy Cats wheezed it's last this last March, succumbing to the inevitable competitive pressures from the 'big bars', and a lucrative offer from the owners of Spice Girls, and, perhaps even a little 'bar fatigue' on the part of the owner after all these years. Some may remember that Crazy Cats was helmed for a while by Mukda of the "Shake-It-Don't-Break-It School of A-Go-Go Dancing " fame - which is an irony in itself - nowadays, you wish there were a way to get some of these up-country shufflers to shake it like they were going to break it. Ah, well.....

The New Crazy Cats won our Best Door Art citation for the month of June 2004 - we wonder if they took this door with them as a souvenir...  SOI COWBOY 

The New Crazy Cats, if you count it's tenure as just plain Crazy Cats, opened originally in the late '80's, and shared equally in Cowboy's 'small bar' heyday along with the Ding Dong and others. Renovations are already furiously under way, and it will reopen with a brand-new name, Naughty Girls, on or about 30 April, if our man on the ground there has his stuff together.
 SOI COWBOY 

And now the other shoe drops: - the Naughty Girls-to-be also will be absorbing the next door neighbor, the Five Star II, becoming the Soi's next two-shophouse-wide bar. The Five Star II intends to keep on operating, however, even when they tear down the wall between them and the former New Crazy Cats - this we gotta see...

This bar-top ad now populates the Five Star II main bar and side tables - in anticipation of next month's transmogrification into the Naughty Girls.

 SOI COWBOY 

So, it remains to be seen when the actual closing date for the Five Star II will be. This begs, very quietly, a question - as both bars had A-Go-Go licenses, and as they will be consolidated into a single bar (the new Naughty Girls), will this leave an A-Go-Go license up for grabs for another nearby location...?
 SOI COWBOY 

"Hey you, get offa' my cloud."

This sign fits right in with the current trend on Soi Cowboy (the one where Night Venue owners are expanding their front sidewalks, encroaching out into the soi). The sign reads, "Please do not sell goods in front of the shop, or sit blocking the front of the shop."

APRIL 2004

 SOI COWBOY 

"You'd hafta be crazy..."

The Dollhouse, having seen that the term "Happy Hour" can mean anything to anybody, have opted for a "Crazy Hour" instead. It looks like the price war is most definitely on - spend more for petrol, spend less for suds. Thirty baht? You'd have to be crazy!

While the official closing date of the 13 Night Market was 28 February 2005, the B.B. Bar bar beer very quietly stayed open on 1 March, and as a goodwill gesture, was giving free beer to it's regular customers, and those who came to say goodbye, and even those, like myself, that came to gawk. In that MIDNITE HOUR is primarily an historical website, it is our 'duty' to make a footnote of this in this issue. So here's to the B.B. Bar, the last soldier standing, and may we wish you greener pastures. As noted last month, the 13 Night Market was built, literally, on the ruins of the original Thermae Coffee Shop; the grounds being absorbed by the adjacent hotel-under-construction as we speak. We also take advantage of this opportunity to publish a last, unusual photo of this now extinct Night Entertainment Area.

The 13 Night Market, home to fifteen Night Entertainment Venues for the last two years lies empty awaiting the wrecking ball. It is the low-lying greenish structure in front of the white building (Miami Hotel) in the center of the photo, and just behind the new construction works (Sofitel), which will soon devour it. This is probably the only photo showing the area of the original Thermae Massage Parlor, Coffee Shop and Barber Shop, on which the 13 Night Market stands.

The Venus Club opened a few days ago, where last month stood the You And Me Club. Cocktail lounge remains the prime agendum - tilted slightly toward the average Japanese customer... We welcome them to the wolfpack.

This is the first time a brand-new Night Entertainment Venue has captured the MIDNITE HOUR nod for the Door Art Of The Month award. This airbrush is certainly most reminiscent of the old Vargas masterpieces that used to adorn the pages of Playboy Magazine.

 SOI DEAD ARTISTS  April 2005

 SOI DEAD ARTISTS 

Opening right about ...now ! is the Karaoke Sakura 33, just upstairs from the Oliver reeDs cluB. If the name wasn't enough to give you the hint, orientation: Oriental, although the comely lasses below say gaijin also are welcome. Welcome to the night circus, orientation be damned.

Another fine sign sponsored by Jack Daniels - those people DO know how to advertise...

 SOI DEAD ARTISTS  April 2005

 SOI DEAD ARTISTS 

The venue furiously abuilding last month between the Monet Club and the Santana Club was a restaurant (Akado Restaurant), and not a Night Entertainment Venue, per se. And while we will not be carrying them on our rolls, we wish them prosperous night-adventures, just the same.
 SOI DEAD ARTISTS 

There is a quiet expansion project underway in the Soi, and virtually all the downstairs bars are contributing. Previously, each evening at opening time, the various Night Venues would bring some tables and chairs (and cushions) out onto the sidewalk and set up in front of their establishments (...and in the case of The Balcony, in front of Helene's and the old Rome Club). Recently, however, the nightly expansion continues out onto the roadway, so that the bars have tables on the sidewalk and out into the soi. It seems that more tables translates into more income, plain and simple. Tapas, the Xantrix, the Cafι 4, and Bobby's Arms, and Noreiga's, as well as Pharaoh's, the Roxy, the Balcony, and Speed now have waiters stationed full time outside, ready to serve those tables on the sidewalks and in the soi. When the Soi is crowded on the weekends, navigation from one end to the other can get a little less than convenient. Being a dead-end, privately owned soi, the nightly encroachments will probably not be disturbed.  SOI KATOEY 

Historians note: the Cafι 4 has at last nailed their 'final' neon shingle up -- and it reads, "Cafι 4 Bangkok". So be it. All else remains unchanged.  SOI KATOEY 

As if following the Soi Katoey bars' leader, the Hideaway Pub now has some outside tables next to their large front window. We hope it works as well for them, but when we passed by on the weekend, the empty tables out front made the place seem only that much more forlorn (although, in fairness, they had a few customers inside). Keep on keeping on...
 QUEEN'S PARK PLAZA 

Sometime after the end of last month, after we noted that The Prince Of Wales P & G had already closed in February, they posted a sign saying "Closed 4 March - 28 March". We don't pretend to understand the gentle misdirection, the minor deception, but we are pleased to see this old-timer back in action. It's sprucing up did wonders - and opening night (as advertised - on the 28th), with rose petals on the floor, was a pleasant touch. Their great Thai food menu, however, remains in place. Welcome back to the slugfest.

Josephine's Beergarden opened only hours after we went to press on 1 March. Visitors ascending the stairs or taking the elevator to the rooftop are greeted by a large open-air seafood restaurant, cooled by micro-fogging fans which fill the evening air with a refreshing mist. At the far front of the rooftop area, overlooking Sukhumvit Road, is a long-bar, and to one side is a glassed in Pool Room with two smallish pool tables. Certainly an interesting layout - one of those Night Venues that just might capture the imagination of Bangkok's nightcrawlers. Although it wasn't too well populated the night we were there, at least a few had found their way to the top...
 SUKHUMVIT 1 PLAZA 

The third floor of the Sukhumvit 1 Plaza building, once rumored to become the next late-nite "Thermae-Style" coffee shop is going to be no such thing. The entire third floor, having been divided up into individual rooms with baths looks suspiciously like a short time hotel - that is to say, they look suspiciously like what we have heard short-time hotels look like...
 SUKHUMVIT 1 PLAZA 

The second floor has blossomed with three new bar beers this last month, with two more abuilding.

 SUKHUMVIT 1 PLAZA  April 2005

The Sexy Bar is the first of these, staffed with what we thought were some familiar faces. And we were correct, but we were thrown off the trail -- this new Sexy Bar has no connection to the Sexy Bar that closed down a month ago in 13 Night Market. Instead, this is the reincarnation of the Bar Bie Bar (Barbie) from Asoke Corner. (Some of you will recall that Bar Bie was the seminal bar at Asoke Corner some 5 years prior.) Good to see that old entrepreneurial zeal. They still have a lot of interior work to do, but the place looks clean and bright (perhaps too bright?) Welcome back to the briar-patch.

 SUKHUMVIT 1 PLAZA  April 2005

 SUKHUMVIT 1 PLAZA 

Smile Bar, located in the next loc over, also had a couple of familiar faces behind the bar. You guessed correctly if you guessed 'Smile Bar from Asoke Corner'. They, too, have moved over, and are giving it another try. (Many of you may remember them as the Chid bar - which was their name up until quite recently.) Good to see they've popped back up out of their coffin. Let the good times roll.
 SUKHUMVIT 1 PLAZA 

The new kid on the block, tucked waaaay back in the back is the Junk Bar. This bar is very well appointed, and very comfortable, if a little small - but their problem is they are almost invisible - when we visited, we were looking for new Night Venues, and we almost didn't see it as we started back down the stairs. You got good neon, guys, but you need to hang it out a little. Welcome to partytown.

 SUKHUMVIT 1 PLAZA  April 2005

 SUKHUMVIT 1 PLAZA 

Downstairs, the seminal The Sports Bar 2 which recently changed to Beaver's has hung a small sign off their big Beaver's sign which reads, "Sports Bar". We thought it was the Metropolis' Sign Gestapos at work again, but this time we were wrong - the owner, now having moved full-time over from the closed Sports Bar at 13 Night Market, was fearful that some of her regulars might not get it right when they came to visit her at her new digs.
 SUKHUMVIT 1 PLAZA 

The rumor that three of the staff of the Chemo 01 bar beer had died in an auto accident is, unfortunately, not a rumor. Travelling upcountry to vote, the van they were in was involved in a single-vehicle accident. The driver, at least as drunk as the eleven passengers, passed out and swerved off the road at high speed, hitting something and rolling the van several times. The driver and the three girls in front were killed outright, and the other 8 passengers, while injured seriously, recovered in the hospital, and were able to recount the infinite joys and benefits of drinking while driving. Khun A, after assisting with the gruesome details, came back to Bangkok to remove her property from her already closed down Chemo 04 at 13 Night Market, and reopened the Chemo 01 on 1 March. Keep on Rockin'.
 SUKHUMVIT 1 PLAZA 

The Honey Bar, new last month, has some new neon - slightly larger, and ever-so-slightly more sophisticated than last month's Magic-Marker-on-cardboard one. This new sign says, "Honey Bar Happy Joint". Some of you will recall that they took over the old Linda Bar Happy Joint digs - indicating that our local sign gestapos have been out enforcing 'sign correctness' yet again. (What would these sign cops do if they were given real jobs? The mind boggles.)
 TOBACCO ROAD (SOI ZERO) 

While it has been several months since Easy Square has qualified as a Night Entertainment Area, we have been tracking those remaining bars that have yet to close - solely for the purpose of making a comprehensive historical record. Officially, at least, as of 31 March, it's lights out for the two remaining Night Venues in Easy Square, the Happy Karaoke, and the Hang Out bar. We have no idea how they lasted this long -- what with the entire compound reduced to rubble, and residing in abiding darkness. Neither bar has any immediate plans to move elsewhere, with costs being proportionately higher in other locations.

 EASY SQUARE  April 2005

This being the final curtain call for both the two bars, and for Easy Square itself, the MIDNITE HOUR has made a note for the historical record, and our final Thumbnail History will follow at a near-future date - once we are reasonably sure neither of the two bars above pries their way out of their crypt and attempts to reopen. (This remains a distinct possibility, by the way, as the Hang Out has yet to receive it's deposit back, and just may, out of spite, remain open for the remainder of it's one year contract, or the arrival of the bulldozers, whichever comes first...)